Straggler

I did wonder if something had happened. I hardly keep a clean sheet any more, when before I would only let in up to 10 goals a season. I thought it might have been something to do with all the drugs and booze I've been taking on. Now I understand the the defenders got a bit pish.

Milner is a super player, but it is way too soon to make a comparison like this. Gerrard has won a Champions League final where he was the catalist for the revival, he has won an FA Cup on one leg and has been an inspiration for most of Liverpools high's over the last decade. His form has dipped of late moslty due to injury, but when he can get on the pitch he is still a level above most midfielders in the country. I love Milner to bits, but he will have to dominate a few very big games to be put in the same bracket as Gerrard. It seems to me that we seem to be under rating what Gerrard has achieved over the years. Milner has only played a few games in the middle, let's see how he copes when the opposition decide he is our main threat through the middle and man mark him or even just observe him for a bit and simply work out how to play him. For me there is still too far to go and too much to achieve to say that he will ever be as good as much as I hope he will be.

Did anyone see Dhoom 2 the other night? Truly freaking spectacular. I was flicking through and mistook the name at first glance as the movie of the computer game. Turns out it is a Hindi English language Indian police buddy movie. Best mistake I made in ages as the two leads in it Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu are mind blowing beautiful in it.

And on Amazon for the same price right now, for PS3 at least. I'm having a lot of trouble with FIFA 10, to the point that I'm actually contemplating getting rid of it. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things about the game that I absolutely adore, and yet for each one of those there seems to be a factor that is pushing me away. It's not too often that I curse whilst playing a video game, but I've been calling the referees 'words removed' quite often due to so many inconsistencies with decisions given against me and for the CPU, which ultimately seem to cost me games. The worst incident came earlier this evening, as I was playing Villa v. Sampdoria. Despite dominating the game, it was tied at 1-1 on 50 minutes. One of their defenders hoofed a ball clear and all of the way into my half. Although I had a striker right on my controlled defender, Davies, I thought to myself, "not a problem, I've got three other defenders here anyway!"... That was until I saw Friedel running way out of his area (25-30 yards!), and on to a collision course with Davies. Just before Davies could get the ball, they ran straight into each other. Strangely, only Davies hit the ground, and I was suddenly in control of Friedel. He was immediately dispossessed by the striker. Goal. The worst thing about it is that it wasn't the first time I've experienced something like that. :x Following that, 40 minutes of dominance counted for nothing. So many questionable decisions given in favour of the CPU, freekicks, advantages, you name it! Sampdoria's 'keeper must've been the son of God, because Jesus certainly bloody saves! He saved everything thrown at him. That was, when I could get past the defence, who seemed to hulk up a little after Sampdoria took the lead... Come the end of play, Sampdoria had totalled 4 shots on target. I had totalled 29 (I play 10 minute halves). This has been happening more often to me, and it's making what is normally a pleasant gaming experience a very horrible one. I've no problem with losing a game when I am outplayed, outclassed or when I simply deserve to lose. I've had plenty of those down the years. But I can't stand losing like this. It's almost like PES 2008 all over again... Surely I'm not the only one experiencing this on these forums? You should try being an Arsenal fan this reads like a Wenger post match interview.

That is my biggest annoyance too. Can't believe that made it through testing.

If we had Megan Fox in the squad I'd want to have her on the bench.

I went for Milner as he would be the first name on the team sheet for me every week. He has the better footballing brain and ample ability to make the most of it. Young can win you a battle, Milner can win us the war.

oh yeah!

Sopcast is working a treat still

Shit, not Heskey

Well done Nigel, well done Ash and **** you Jamie Scouse clearing in the woods

PENALTY!!!!

Milner will have him later, you watch

Nice one Brad

eek that was a bit close

Isn't the half over yet, it seems to be going for a very long time already

Thank god red wine is good for the heart and that I have lots of it at hand

So the boo boys are at it again. Hang on... That's the Liverpool fans he he he he

YAY!

So Lucas is now our top scorer

ha ha Liverpool

yep, needed a card for that, pretty cynical

Look for the options for a pass into midfield. They aren't there

If they are really about to die, let them go. We will have nothing to fear from them and further punishment is pretty much pointless. If they are not really that ill then round em up and stick em back in jail until they are. The idea of campassion is more for the family of the convicted than it is for the convicted person themselves anyway. I don't have a problem with any loved ones wanting to be there to say goodbye and showing compassion to them.

Not sure I agree with those ratings, although I agree with your sentiments over all. Brad Freidel - 7 - A good solid pro, did what good solid pro's do Eric Lichaj - 7 - Pretty good, but he iwll face a sterner test in the prem Ciaran Clark – 6 - Looked better next to Cuellar that Davies, not bad, but not dominating Carlos Cuellar – 8 - Carlos did dominate in defence, I was impressed and we worked much better as a unit with him in the middle commanding things. Nicky Shorey - 6 - Was ok, certainly good enough to merit a place in our squad James Milner – 7 - Typical Milner, good energy, helped back, got forward, I think he's great. Fabien Delph – 8 - I was thoroughly impressed with Delph. Calm on the ball, could buy himself space with a bit of skill, quick off the mark and snappy (if a bit too snappy) in the challenge. Seemed to pick the right pass most of the time too. The Leeds fans who told us that we got a gem here I think were right. Will watch him develop with interest, as will our more experienced midfielders who will have to play very well to keep him out of the team. Craig Gardner – 6 - Did some great passes, but I was not convinced by his overall contribution. A bit too pedestrian in most departments to be top flight. Good utility player for the squad though and the midfield partership ticked nicely with him in it. Ashley Young – 5 - Came out in the captains armband, but seemed disinterested. Low energy performance and a fair bit of finger pointing. I expect much more from a player with his quality. In a game when I came away with mostly positives, his performance was my biggest concern. Gabby Agbonlahor – 7 - Would have been more effective if he had not been fouled every time he got goal side of a defender. Any other day he would have had a few chances. What he did do was good though, held the ball up well, won his fair share of headers and scared the crap out of a few defenders with his pace. Emile Heskey – 6 - Scored a good goal, but did not contribute enough for me. Wasn't great at holding the ball up, or even winning the ball in a competitive situation. Needs to harry the opposition defence more and generally be more busy. Substitutes: Marc Albrighton – 7 - Looked great when he came on, good skills and passing, some of the best deadball use of the game (distinctly better that Ash was in the first half). The Italians did seem to be getting the measure of him as the game went on though, getting into the tackle much quicker. He reminded me of James Milner, which as I said earlier, I like. Curtis Davies – 6 - The defence seemed to loose a bit of it's shape when Curtis came on. Wasn't as commanding a player as Carlos, but was still ok. Could be a result of all the subs, should work well along side Carlos though. Brad Guzan – 7 - Very happy with Brad as back-up to Brad. Nigel Reo Coker – 6 - A few misplaced passes and a little slow of thought and action in advanced postions reminded me what frustrates me about Nigel. The midfield looked much better with Delph in it. Also seemd to sit a bit too close to the back 4 allowing the Fiorentina midfield to advance further into our half than they had previouly been able to do. I expected a bit more up and at them from him. Steve Sidwell – 6 - Similar to Nigel, sat too far back and was not energetic enough, I preferred the first half midfield John Carew – 6 - Big John can foul people, but he cannot be fouled, look it up it's in the rules. Nathan Delfounseso – 7 - Looked good and lively, did really well to get infront of his defender to win a dangerous header. He and Gabby were the best two strikers on show. Shane Lowry – Didn't see enough of him to get an impression. Fiorentina - 4 - I would never play this lot in a friendly again. They took advantage of it being a friendly to do some of the most cynical and niggly fouling I have ever seen. Almost every time we got a good move going or a player beat a man, in went the boot. In a competitive game they would surely have had a man sent off. As such we were able to take less out of this game than we may have liked as the main thing we got to practice was keeping cool under fire. If we had picked up an injury from any of those fouls I would have been fuming.